Double hibakusha's story comes to London; BBC producers AWOL

LONDON — Two short documentaries about the life of a man who survived both atomic bombings were screened Tuesday in London, following a controversy about a BBC program in which some participants made light-hearted remarks about his experience.

The films about Tsutomu Yamaguchi, who survived both Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, were shown at London University by producer Hidetaka Inazuka.

Inazuka decided to screen the films in Britain after the BBC came under fire in December over its "QI" comedy show, saying he wanted to spread Yamaguchi's antinuclear message.

"Many people in Japan were appalled by the BBC show," he said. "If he was alive, Yamaguchi would say that people in Britain do not know enough about the atomic bombings and their aftereffects, and he would feel it his duty to inform people about the situation."

The documentaries relate how Yamaguchi was working in Hiroshima when the first A-bomb was dropped on Aug. 6, 1945. He suffered burns and decided to return to his hometown of Nagasaki, where three days later the second attack took place.

He was one of a small number of people who survived both bombs and he made it his mission later in life to tell people in Japan and abroad about his experiences.

Before the screening, the audience was shown a video address by Nagasaki Mayor Tomihisa Taue. "We believe you will be inspired," Taue said. "We hope the torch containing his dreams will be passed on."

Afterward, Graeme Wicks, 27, an IT consultant from Northampton, discussed the films.

"The documentaries were very interesting," he said. "We didn't learn much about the atomic bombings at school. They shouldn't have made fun of Mr. Yamaguchi on 'QI,' but in British comedy there's a tradition of making fun of events during World War II."

The BBC apologized for the program and said it would consider making a documentary about Yamaguchi.

Inazuka said the actor Stephen Fry, who hosted the "QI" show, was invited to the London screening but couldn't make it because he was filming in Canada. Executives at Talkback Thames, which produces "QI" for the BBC, said they were unable to attend. Fry and the production company had also declined to take part in a planned TV documentary relating to the controversy, Inazuka added.

The Japanese Embassy complained to the BBC about the show, in which Yamaguchi, who died in 2010, was referred to as the "unluckiest man in the world."

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